Fret - Silent Neighbour

Fret - Silent Neighbour
Mick Harris's first record as Fret, released in 1995, feels more like a prophecy than an anomaly. Maybe that's why the project felt so contemporary when the multi-talented artist—once a member of Napalm Death and Extreme Noise Terror—revived it last year. The original Fret tracks took the punishing techno sound of his Birmingham hometown and made it dirtier and more deranged. Not much has changed more than 20 years later, yet the music still feels fresh, or whatever you might call something this grimy.

Silent Neighbour adds even more grit to the broken techno ferocity of last year's Over Depth. Harris uses distortion and overdriven sounds to give his tracks an aggressive edge, but there's a real bounce to "Silent Neighbour," which feels like it's skidding on a slippery surface. By contrast, "List Is Full" hits with precision, like a Tessela track made from scrap metal. Harris employs delay effects like a guitarist teases out feedback, drawing out squeals that collect into a booming soundscape behind the beats.

There's power in Fret's screeching midrange frequencies and quaking low-ends. This combination reaches its limit on "Closed Syndicate," though the masochists among us will find plenty to like in the hellish racket. The only thing missing from Silent Neighbour is variety. Each track does the same thing a little differently, with varying levels of noise. But overall Silent Neighbour shows that Harris hasn't lost any of his ferocity.